


Solidarity for the Lovesick

by TalysAlankil



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28984965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalysAlankil/pseuds/TalysAlankil
Summary: Sora prepares for the biggest date of his and Riku's relationship, but he can't quite work up the nerve to go through with his initial plan, and runs into old enemies instead.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 19





	Solidarity for the Lovesick

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally written this for Soriku week 2019, then discarded it in favor of another fic. Then I happened upon the draft again, decided to finish it, had to rewrite a little bit of it because of the Melody of Memory plot developments, and here it is!

_"I was just along for the ride."_

_"With—"_

_Larxene smirked. "My secret."_

* * *

Sora hadn't expected to meet Larxene again after that. He _definitely_ didn't expect to run into her _now_ , of all times.

He'd planned _everything_. Sunset: check—Twilight Town was the obvious choice. Fancy restaurant: check—Uncle Scrooge owed him at least fifty more meals at the Grand Bistrot. Flowers: check—thanks, Rapunzel. A breathtaking view: check—though he had to bribe Roxas with a day's worth of ice cream for himself and all of his friends to make sure they would steer clear of the clock tower.

A ring: check—the Moogles had crafted the most elegant pair of rings Sora had ever seen, inspired by the combined Keyblade he and Riku had used during their journey through the Sleeping Realm. A pair of them, because he knew Riku wouldn't just take a ring for himself without Sora having anything of his own. And besides, Sora wanted something to show off too, when he told his friends. Assuming Riku said yes, of course.

Which left the actual act of proposing. Sora wasn't exactly the nervous type, and the setting was perfect: watching the sunset from the top of the clock tower, snuggling up against one another, Riku telling Sora about the headway he and Aqua were making in their search for the next generation of Keyblade wielders to train, and Sora drinking his every word.

It was a perfect opportunity. So why didn't he manage to get the question out?

Maybe this wasn't perfect _enough_. They were going to watch a movie at the outdoors theater next; maybe it would be more romantic if Sora waited until after nightfall. He could find some reason to drag Riku into the woods so they'd be out of the town proper and get to stargaze, and pop the question under the moonlight.

Or maybe—maybe there would be another, even _better_ occasion.

Which was how, as they walked down the street from Central Station to the Tram Common, Sora still hadn't proposed, in spite of his perfectly-crafted plan.

Apparently, though, fate had another wrench to throw his way, because Sora all but bumped into her on the way.

"Hey! Watch it!" The voice was what Sora recognized first: his memories of Larxene were hazy at best, and seeing her out of the Organization's black coat and into a spunky teal outfit instead was a massive change. She registered his face first. "Oh. It's _you_ ," she said, disdain plain on her face.

"Elrena," a soft voice chided her as a man came by her side. Him, Sora recognized more easily—even if he was wearing a far more dapper outfit now, Marluxia's stark pink hair was far too distinct to forget. "We're not enemies anymore. Calm down."

Sora narrowed his eyes at the two of them, ready to summon his Keyblade at the first sign of trouble.

Larxene—Elrena, Sora guessed she was called as a human—rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fine, Lauriam."

Beside Sora, though, Riku had tensed up as well. "What're you doing here?"

"Investigating a murder," Elrena retorted. " _Duh_."

Sora and Riku traded looks, frowning. "A murder?" Sora asked.

"A cold case, to be exact," Lauriam said. "My sister's murder."

"Your—" Sora's eyes grew wide, as he remembered their last exchange at the Keyblade Graveyard. "So she's the one you remembered."

Lauriam nodded. "And like I told you then, I owe you my thanks for those memories. Even if our progress towards solving the case has been slow since then, at least I'm back to my true calling now."

"Yeah," Elrena said, her tone indecipherable to Sora. "At least we're not just playthings for the old man."

"He did give us an important piece of information to start the investigation," Lauriam said, gentle but sounding resigned. He flicked his hand, and Sora prepared to block an attack, but instead of his scythe, a Keyblade appeared in his hand. Lauriam took a moment to appreciate Sora and Riku's shock before continuing with a smile. "There's a lot you don't know about us."

"I bet," Riku said.

He didn't seem on the verge of attacking them anymore, at least. That would really ruin Sora's plans. Which had been delayed enough as it was. "Well, good luck with that—"

"Do you need any help?"

_Oh, Riku_ , Sora thought, equal parts fond and annoyed. Sometimes he wished his best friend—now boyfriend—hadn't become quite _this_ good at being a hero. He sighed. "You're right," he said. "Is there anything we can do? We were just going to see a movie—"

"Thank you," Lauriam, "but at the moment, we're rather stuck."

"Maybe you can tell us about it," Riku said. "I'm sure there's someone we know who may be able to help you, if you tell us what you know."

"I don't think—" Elrena started, but Lauriam nodded.

"Sure. We might as well try everything we can. Right, Elrena?" He turned a pointed glance her way, and shrugged.

" _Fine_ ," she said. "But you guys are buying us drinks."

* * *

They settled at a terrace near the sandlot, where an amateur Struggle tournament was being set up, apparently taking place all throughout the night. Sora fetched drinks—not quite the champagne he'd expected to be sipping on in celebration right now, but it would do—and Lauriam and Elrena recounted their story.

It was a lot to take in, to imagine that the two of them had been Keyblade wielders in the first Keyblade War. Ven and Chirithy had mentioned that time as well, but Ven's memories of it were fuzzy, and Chirithy wasn't forthcoming when it came to that topic. Then to hear about Lauriam's sister Strelitzia, murdered before the war had even started…it made that time feel so _real_. These were real kids once, part of swaths of countless Keyblade wielders, who had lived and died, had made friends and loved, had fought and broken the World with darkness before restoring it with light.

At least, if Sora's plans for the night were ruined, he wasn't getting bored. "So you're trying to find clues to a murder committed who knows how long ago, in a place that doesn't even exist anymore?"

"Well, that's not quite true, is it?" Riku said. "Daybreak Town—didn't you and Kairi say something about it once?"

Sora winced as his memory caught up with him. Riku was right: he _had_ seen that name, once, when he had abused the Power of Waking to save Kairi and sacrificed himself in the process. Even if he didn't regret his actions, he still felt awful about the time he'd lost in consequence. About the pain he'd caused his loved ones when they thought they'd lost him—Riku most of all.

This was supposed to be his big day. A _happy_ day. Not one where he recounted the worst time of their lives. But he couldn't exactly lie, either.

"Yeah," he said. "In Scala ad Caelum, there was this device that showed the city's history. From Daybreak Town, to some kind of catastrophe, to Scala. But—it was destroyed in the Keyblade War, wasn't it? When I fought Xehanort—"

Riku shook his head. "Not exactly. It survived somehow—whatever you and Xehanort did during your battle didn't change the past. After all, Xehanort's younger self never saw his home destroyed." He turned to Elrena and Lauriam. "You should check it out. Even if there's no record on your sister, maybe one of the inhabitants knows something. Xehanort certainly knew a lot about the age of fairytales."

"Well, we can't ask Xehanort, though," Elrena pointed out. "He's over and done for."

"Still worth a shot. Mickey went there to investigate the Lost Masters, when Sora was missing, and he was able to find some information."

"And if not, Master Eraqus might have taken some records to the Land of Departure," Sora suggested. He cast Riku a grin. "Besides, you and Aqua were looking for Keyblade wielders to train, right?" He waved at Lauriam and Elrena. "It would only make sense if they visited, right?"

"Yeah," Riku said. "That might actually be a better place to start—Scala isn't exactly safe these days. If you guys are interested, I could contact Aqua and tell her to pick you up as soon as possible."

Lauriam and Elrena agreed to that idea, and Riku stepped aside to call Aqua on his Gummiphone. The moment he was out of earshot, Elrena bent forward, eyeing Sora across the table. "All right, spill. What's with you tonight?"

"M-me?" Sora backed off in his chair, nervous.

"The way you're looking at Riku is a dead giveaway." Lauriam crossed his arms across his chest.

"Oh! Well, we _are_ dating. You're not the only ones with a lot of news—"

"No, that's not it," Elrena said, shaking her head. "You're like— _antsy_. Less single-minded than I remember you. Kind of _scared_ , too, if I had to put a word on it."

"I'm not s—" Sora couldn't finish his sentence as Elrena drowned it in a laugh.

"Are you for _real_? Don't lie to us, we can tell!"

"You're nervous," Lauriam added. "But about what?"

Sora sighed, slumping his shoulders. He guessed there was no harm in telling them. "Swear not to tell Riku anything." The two of them nodded solemnly, and even though Sora wasn't sure how far he could trust them, he needed to tell _someone_ and vent out his frustration. "I was planning to propose tonight."

Lauriam's lips parted in surprise. " _Oh._ Did we—"

"No, it's not your fault. I had already blown it when we ran into you two. I just started thinking, you only get one chance at this, gotta make it perfect, but it's like—what if it's not enough?"

"Seriously?" Elrena raised an eyebrow with a mocking smirk. "Have you _seen_ how he looks at you? If his replica had looked like that, back when I was Larxene, I would have died just from puking my guts out."

Clearing his throat, Lauriam added, "What she's trying to say is, Riku looks at you like you hang the stars in the sky. You don't need to be _perfect_ —I'm pretty sure all you have to be is yourself." He smiled. "Which is ideal, really, isn't it?"

"What does that even m—"

Before Sora could ask, Riku came back. "Aqua's coming to get you in a moment," he said as he sat back down next to Sora. "She had some stuff to wrap up at home, but she'll be over as soon as it's done."

"Fantastic," Lauriam said. "Thank you, Riku. This could be the breakthrough we need. And even if not—" He shot a warning glance to Elrena. "We could use some more friends."

Elrena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, thanks, I'm sure. Shouldn't you two be on your way? You're gonna miss your movie."

Riku stared at her in open dismay at her rudeness. "We've already missed it. I'm sure it's—"

"Well," she argued, "even so, we can take it from here. So why don't you go back to your _plans_ "—she narrowed her eyes at Sora—"and we'll wait for Aqua here. Sound good?"

Sora tried his hardest not to scream. She was gonna ruin everything; of course he shouldn't have told her about his plans to propose, they used to be _enemies_ , how could he be so stupid—

"If that's what you want," Riku said, visibly trying to be accommodating. He turned to Lauriam. "You sure you're gonna be okay?"

Lauriam's eyes were also locked on Sora when he said, "Oh, we'll be fine. Take care, you two. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

"All right," Riku said, though he still sounded unconvinced.

"Come on, off you go," Elrena insisted. "You guys should go somewhere more romantic, like—"

"Okay, that's enough of that," Sora said, jumping out of his chair and dragging Riku away from the terrace. Riku yelped in protest, but he let himself be led away anyway. When Sora glanced back, Lauriam was grinning at him, and Elrena flashed him a thumbs-up. Sora had no idea if she was making fun of him or not.

"What's their deal?" Riku asked Sora as they reached the entrance to the town's wood. "And what's with you? You've never been this—"

"Riku, please _be quiet for a moment_ ," Sora snapped—then he sighed, annoyed at himself for getting angry. He turned away and took a few steps forward, away from Riku. "Sorry. Just—had to get out of there, okay?"

"Sora?" Riku caught up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Sora didn't dare turn around to meet his eyes. He looked up instead, and saw the tree where he'd met Little Chef for the first time. It probably wasn't a sign of anything, though it reminded him what he was capable of. If he could be a cook thanks to a rat's help, or fight Heartless to protect said rat, asking his boyfriend one question—no matter how important—shouldn't be this complicated.

So he turned around. "Riku—" he started, his hand diving into his pocket.

Then he got down on one knee, and propped the box open in front of him.


End file.
